Homesick for Another World

Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh is the debut story collection from one of contemporary fiction’s most discomforting and original voices — the author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Eileen. The stories here share Moshfegh’s characteristic preoccupations: narrators who are self-destructive, deluded, and occasionally monstrous, yet somehow also pitiable and recognisably human; a prose style that is cool and precise even when describing the most abject situations; and a dark, dry humour that makes the reader laugh in spite of themselves. Published by Faber & Faber, this collection is both an excellent introduction to Moshfegh’s work and essential for existing fans — a demonstration that her gifts are not confined to the novel but are equally powerful in the compressed form of the short story.